Wild coach rips Trent Frederic for ‘predatory' hit on Kaprizov

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Was Trent Frederic's hit on Kirill Kaprizov a malicious act or a clean hockey play? Depends on who you ask.

Frederic was assessed a minor penalty for boarding in the second period of the Boston Bruins' game against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden when he checked Kaprizov into the boards, sending the star forward to the dressing room with an injury.

The Wild immediately took exception to Frederic's hit, as Dmitry Kulikov dropped the gloves with the Bruins forward to stand up for his teammate.

Wild head coach Dean Evason made his thoughts about the play very clear after the game, a 3-2 Minnesota win.

"Really frustrated with how Kirill got hurt," Evason said, via Sportsnet. "It’s a predatory hit. It’s one that the league -- we don’t want that. The puck is sitting right there. You know what (Frederic is) doing. He’s going to hurt our best player."

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Frederic insisted he had no malintent when he collided with Kaprizov, who leads Minnesota with 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 32 games.

"Hope he’s all right. I didn’t mean to hurt him," Frederic said. "I was just trying to make a hockey play, finish a check. I think he kind of fell as I was doing it."

Evason isn't buying Frederic's explanation, though, and hopes the NHL considers discipline for Frederic.

"That is not a hockey play," Evason said. "The puck’s sitting right there. Why not just take the puck and go? In a vulnerable position, you hit a player from behind.

"We see it all the time, and it gets taken care of. I hope it gets taken care of here."

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, meanwhile, came to Frederic's defense.

"I don’t think there was any malicious intent other than separating him from the puck, which you better do or he’ll hurt you," Cassidy said of the play. "It looked clean from my point. The officials didn’t see it that way.

"Obviously, Minnesota is going to react. That’s one of their best players. I get that. We would do the same. I don’t think there was anything malicious in the hit."

These are two very different interpretations of the same play, but it's not surprising to see both sides advocate for their own. We'll find out who's more in the right when the NHL Department of Safety weighs in on Thursday's events.

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